I hopped on the NCC shuttle and along with a full contingent of tourists, locals, university students and hikers rode along the curvy road up into Gatineau Park.
The free shuttle is a great option, with the caveat that it is getting much busier as the leaves are changing, and with good weather, you may be waiting a while for space on the bus, in either direction.
Also to note, while most of the stops and corresponding trails the shuttle services are well marked, Camp Fortune leaves it all to your imagination and willingness to walk in circles, and confused shared roads to try to find the actual walking trails.
I was recommended ( while up there asking for some form of direction) by multiple people to download the map myself from online before going up, as there are presently no detailed physical maps posted to show the 5.6 and 5.9 km loops indicated on the NCC board at the drop off.
And for staff who try to describe it, as soon as they mention the multiple forks, it just gets confusing when one is used to clear markings.
But if you like winging it, it’s lovely.
Friday morning and I am gently awakened with 20 minutes to snarf down a toaster waffle and hash brown and load up the back pack with train snacks, and head out to door.
We decided to take the LRT from Rideau to the Via Train station, and the timing worked out perfectly.
6:10 am train to Montreal with a planned adventure for the day involving two museums, two restaurants and randomness in between then the last train home.
Note: Head over to my TAVCreations blog for the photos of the dresses- both museums featured gorgeous costumes and vintage pieces!
1st destination: breakfast. I had planned on a crepe place that ended up being under construction, but across the street was the universal dejeuner et grillades
Waffle egg home fries and pumperknickle toast, plus the strawberries, bananas and Nutella…
The permanent exhibit is very meaningful and worth checking out, as are the three temporary ones…
Totem in stairwell
Creepy beaver weather vanes
Upon entering
So worth going to see, if you can, check it out!
Next stop was a late lunch at a welcoming little Japanese BBQ spot on Crescent. Sorry, my phone stayed packed up, but it was great.
We decided to return to near our breakfast spot to pick up some squishies/ plushiest that I had spotted in a store window, and so these two came home with us.
Squishy Sloth
Angry Bunny
Finally we headed underground to walk slush free back to the train station where we had a final meal of the day with a friend who was able to pop down to see us.
Ok, So… I’ve know m@ta has been not healthy for a long time. Now that things have begun to go in such an openly lacking of respect for human existence there, < yes, in the US for now, but it’s still going to affect us all> I’ll be closing things down in that realm as I also have been from the bird site.
I joined the fediverse a couple of years back here:
Also trying new options and this one, http://www.pxlfd.ca as a canadian based image sharing space is just getting its feet off the ground, so there are early adopters and mostly people I don’t actually know, but I’m hopeful. the community guidelines suit my wants and it’s not owned by a rich guy looking to control the world. I cannot properly explain how the “fediverse” works, but head here:https://tilvids.com/w/wx2iLhD3pTipbKFJKLyx5t for some basics or https://fedi.tips/
To stay connected with my IRL friends, I’ll be looking into the old ways of email and texting and trying to keep some more activity happening here on my blog.
And for today – here is my morning walk photo in my new image sharing space….
Oh and folk looking for an Ottawa Based space to connect in, try Ottawa.place – I have set up my business account there: https://ottawa.place/@TAVCreations
Ok,I realize this is not the normal way to share cooking stuff- click on each photo for the next steps…
For the marinade I use a drizzle/ sprinkle of:
sweet: honey, maple syrup, mirim, brown sugar
Spicy: chili powder, paprika, pepper
Salty: soy sauce, teriyaki sauce
You choose your flavours and have fun.
Using the same container the tofu came in works for me, and I let it sit for about 10 -15 minutes after slicing it and adding the marinade.
You can slice more thinly and let it cook a bit more to get a crispy bacon type of tofu- just watch it doesn’t burn.
400 g extra firm tofu, frozen and defrosted, then drained
Use a straight edge to slice it into 3 mm strips
Leave in the container it came in to add the marinade: sweet, salty, spicy of your choice.
Oven pre heated to 425F ( sorry)
Lay out strips on parchment lined baking sheet, drizzle on any remaining marinade
Bake for 15 minutes
First side starting to brown
Bake another 14-15 minutes
Final look- dark golden ( the darker pieces are thinner cuts- still practicing the slicing)
Cool on rack and divide up- I usually use 4-5 strips per sandwich
Make some fresh pita bread
Roll it up with your choice of sandwich fixings and toast
Another moment on the Rideau River and I was noticing in the moments when the traffic was still, and the curve of the river hid the buildings, I could have been deep in a forest.
Sunday morning paddle
In the middle of the city
Listen to the birds
And see the scenery so pretty.
I was told I should share this adventure, but I don’t feel I have a lot of info to give but here are some fun photos and a bit of the beginning of this journey…more to come if I can keep myself writing…
I have only had my paddle board since the fall of 2023 – I bought it on sale at the end of the season. I spent the winter months checking out online groups where folks offer advice, and share photos of their adventures on their boards. Some folks are purists and pretty much belittle those who choose to not/ cannot actually stand, but I have found a good amount of supportive folk who understand that standing on the SUP board is not the best for everyone who gets a board. I’ll just call it a paddle board and skip the reference to standing at all.
I purchased a discount inflatable from Amazon < I know…> called “Oddpaddle”. The company does not have website anymore. But that’s ok. I bought a package deal that included a pump, patch kit, board with a leash, one attached set of d rings and criss crossed bungees at the front and a separating, extendable paddle.
I had to think about how I wanted to carry the board to the nearby park. I decided I did not want to inflate it at the park, so carrying it already inflated and ready to go was important.
I created a rope system that loops around the nose and butt end, avoiding the 3 fins – and with a small piece of foam padding, allows me to carry it like a very large cross body bag. So far, so good for anything up to a 5 minute walk. I wear my life jacket/pfd over and my water shoes, and the paddle locks into the bungees and to the mid-board handle by wrapping the velcro ankle wrap part of the leash there.
I like kneeling and can do so – folks with knee issues might need a low chair. This position resembles how I have sat to paddle in a canoe for years and allows me that familiar feeling as I wander about on the river or small lake. I can shift myself up to a 90 degree at the knee position too, and I’m good with that.
Eventually, there might be standing but I won’t rush it.
So far, I’m comfortable with about 45-50 minutes on the water, and that gives me time to wander around the area and check things out. On the day of the video at the bottom of this post, I was fighting the wind most of the time!
One thing I am enjoying is the chance to take photos from a different direction and seeing the beauty from the water…
Thanks for reading!
Tracey/ TAV
the Rideau river on an overcast dayPhoto taken by a neighbour as I was coming back after an hour paddle – Minto bridge in the back ground.Two bridges and a reflection on the Rideau River – photo by me!My 90 degree position is pretty comfy! photo by Sandra Miltonhelping me dock… photo by Sandra MiltonClick on image to see a quick video of my jaunt around Mew Lake
Last week I made a no-knead loaf and thought, why not separate out a bit of the batter and see if I could create some sort of sour dough starter. It had added yeast and was quite feisty, so I let it sit out on the counter and it grew quickly. I read that I could store it in the fridge, so I moved it in there and today gave it a feed.
When I fed the jar, I had scooped out some of the batter and spent some time thinking about what I wanted to create.
I decided to make a fake vegan chocolate babka.
Fake because I chose to just wing it. Vegan just because…
The dough:
⅓ cup sour dough starter ( flour, water, yeast from the no knead dough recipe)
2 cups sugar
⅓ cup olive oil
Enough water to make a nice bread dough- ¾ to 1 cup ish
Mix it, knead it( yes, this one I chose to knead), let it sit covered for 2 hours, because that’s how much time I had.
Preheat the oven to 375F
Roll out into a square or rectangle about 1 cm thick on a lightly floured surface.
The filling
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips – melt in microwave 30 second bursts
1 tablespoon peanut butter – stir into the melted chocolate
1 teaspoon cinnamon- sprinkled on the filling
Pour the filling onto the dough and roll it up into a log.
Cut through the centre of the log lengthwise, leaving 2 cm dough still attached at one end.
Braid the two pieces carefully, and gently place into a lined loaf pan or greased pan.
*probably could let this proof more now, I chose not to .*
Bake for 35 minutes or until an inserted tester comes out clean. Technically a babka would have a glaze, I’m going to skip that step and just try it as is for this time around…or maybe make a simple vanilla icing sugar glaze… but for now:
